Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal began as staunch archrivals on the tennis court, who were the two faces of the game for audiences worldwide largely till the Swiss maestro called it a day last year. Gradually, the rivalry turned into a mutually respectable bond and a friendship of sorts. But there was a time when Federer and Nadal battled for the World No.1, with fans extremely divided as to who was actually the best player in the world.
A few years ago, Andre Agassi touched upon the interesting Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal bond in a hilarious way in an interview with Vijay Amritraj. The American legend was seeing talking about his marriage with Steffi Graf.
Wedding bells for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
Vijay Amritraj was curious about the dynamic Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf share at home. The fact of the matter being that both were amongst the most successful players of their time in men’s and women’s singles tennis respectively. Andre Agassi had made history by becoming one of those rare players to win 8 Grand Slam titles (which included the 1999 French Open on clay, no American has won it since), the Davis Cup for USA and the Olympic gold medal. However, Steffi Graf won most tournaments and matches in her category, which made her the World No.1 for a long period of time.
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As a result, Amritraj called Agassi the ‘second best player in his own house’. Agassi joked in response that his biggest achievement till date is being the World’s No.1 tennis player but World No.2 at home and it is ‘not easy’ to achieve that. Using his wit, Agassi compared his marriage to a hypothetical situation in which Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal married each other. This is because Federer was World No.1 largely by rankings and yet, on head-to-head, it is Nadal who leads in the rivalry, 24-16.
It is plausible that Agassi was perhaps equating himself with Federer, while Nadal could be Graf, which drew a lot of laughter from the host as well as the crowd. Ironically, just months before Agassi won the French Open, he had equated Graf to the Grand Slam, since it was the tournament he badly wanted to win yet he wasn’t able to not being ‘able to cross the finish line’, i.e. lose either in the semifinals or the finals. Agassi admitted to having a huge crush on her since a long time and was able to get a meeting with her after great difficulty.
Agassi and Graf went on to date for 18 months before getting married in 2001. The couple are happily married till date and currently reside in Las Vegas, having been blessed with two children.
Federer makes fun of Nadal
Roger Federer recently played two games of chess with a 12-year-old prodigy in New York as part of his ‘world tour’ with one of the brands he endorses, Uniqlo. In the video, the Swiss superstar is seen losing both the games to him. The chess player taunted him that for increasing his chances to win, he should have brought along with him maybe Rafael Nadal or some other youngster from the ATP Tour. In response, Federer joked about Nadal by claiming that he is always there for the Spaniard but that isn’t the case with Nadal being there for him when needed the most.
Nadal and Federer may not be the best of friends, but their solid bond was visible the most when Nadal cried during Federer’s retirement at the Laver Cup 2022 after playing a doubles match together, which was the 20-time Grand Slam champion’s last ever. Despite being injured, the former World No.1 ensured that he was there for the big event as Federer had personally invited and requested him for the same, a gesture which both the players’ fans will remember forever.
